Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Antarctic Status Report 2 February 2018: Return To Skarvsnes
Dale sent this message via Iridium on 2 February 2018 at 4:41:48 PM EST: “Hi Keith: We returned from two days at Syowa Station and are now back in the Kizahashi Hut on Skarvsnes once again.”
“There was a formal ceremony to mark the turnover of the station from the previous winter over team, JARE 58 to the JARE 59 team at Syowa Station yesterday morning which we attended. It was a really nice gathering of the two groups and most of the JARE 58 winter over team are now aboard the icebreaker Shirase, which is scheduled to depart the area on the 10th, beginning their 6 week voyage to Sydney where most of the team will catch flights back to Japan.
I will be staying here at the camp for a few more days to help with the close out and then several of us will return to Syowa or be flown to S17, the ice runway to await the flight back to Novolazarevskaya Station and the flight north to Cape Town.
As you probably noted in the weather forecast you forwarded, the weather here over the next few days is not expected to be very good, with high winds and perhaps snow hitting the camp. We will see what the morning brings – it’s overcast now and winds have increased to 15 knots from the North.
All for now,
Dale”
